The production of packaging and container labels typically consists of printing on a flexographic or digital press, followed by a finishing process that may include cutting, splicing, and rewinding. The aggregation of different labels onto a single frame is an important part of the printing process. However, this action usually introduces a sizable amount of processing work during the finishing stage. The processing work is related to splicing, which is the combining of multiple small rolls of the same label into one continuous large one, and rewinding, which is the winding and unwinding of a roll to join the multiple small rolls together.
When several label jobs are aggregated together, the jobs may have a different overall length. A step and repeat approach may be used to place the individual labels on a substrate. This approach may result in the generation of several sub rolls that need to be rewound and spliced together. The rewind step can be time consuming and the time may depend on the label size. Larger labels require less time for a rewind, because the roll may be less prone to break. Generally, it may take about 20-30 min, on average, to perform the rewinding and spicing operation. This operation may take more time than the time it takes to actually print and die cut the labels. Further, depending on the label size, no more than three rolls can be spliced together and sustain the tension imposed by a label application machine without breaking.